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Is Gabon leader Omar Bongo dead?
There are conflicting reports about the health of the 73-year-old president of the central African republic
Confusion reigned today over the status of Omar Bongo, President of Gabon, who was reported last night by French media to be dead, a claim hastily denied by the Gabonese government today. Gabon's prime minister, Jean Eyeghe Ndong, went so far as to say that he had visted Bongo this morning "with several ministers and the speaker of the Gabonese parliament," leaving little wriggle room should Bongo turn out to be deceased.
According to Le Point magazine and the AFP news agency, Bongo, 73, died in a clinic in Barcelona, Spain, of cancer on Sunday night. He was one of the last old-school rulers on the African continent, having led the central African country for 41 years, just seven years less than it has been independent from France.
When Fidel Castro resigned as Cuban leader last year, Bongo, despite his election majorities invariably being challenged as fraudulent by opposition politicians, became the longest-serving leader of any country in the world.
He also faced constant accusations of using his rule of the scarcely populated but resource-rich state to line his own pockets and those of his family. Moves earlier this year by Nicolas Sarkozy's government to investigate massive corruption by Bongo and his entourage were in sharp contrast to how he was feted by representatives of France's ruling elite in the past, including presidents Giscard D'Estaing, Francois Mitterand and Jacques Chirac. His state had been a redoubt of French oil giant Elf in central Africa, and as such the stability offered by Bongo's authoritarian regime was encouraged by Paris.
Described on Afrik.com as "a crafty politician, suave and skilful", Bongo, whether dead or alive, will no doubt be greatly amused by the political games ensuing after his reported demise.
Editor's note: Since this item was posted, Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong has announced that President Bongo is indeed dead. He died in a private clinic in Barcelona where he was receiving cancer treatment. There are to be 30 days of national mourning in Gabon. ·
